document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=1196609>Question 1196609</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> Mark is four years older than Jose, the sum of the squares of their ages is 520 how old is each<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #829522 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=greenestamps><B>greenestamps(13200)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=greenestamps><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=greenestamps><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=829522\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> <br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "For a purely mental solution, you can reason that, since the two ages are close together, the squares of the ages are relatively close together.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "So divide the sum of the squares of their ages, 520, by 2 to get 260, then observe that a perfect square close to 260 is 16^2 = 256; so very likely the two ages (since they are 4 apart) are 16+2=18 and 16-2=14.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "Check to see if that works....<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "18^2+14^2 = 324+196 = 520<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "ANSWERS: 14 and 18<br><BR>\n" );
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